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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28113834">A Simple Enough Sentiment</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c'>sanctum_c</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Aerith Month 2018 [21]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Attraction, Character Study, Cosmo Canyon (Compilation of FFVII), Developing Relationship, F/M, Feelings, Feelings Realization, Gold Saucer (Compilation of FFVII), Introspection, Light-Hearted, Mentioned Tifa Lockhart, Mentioned Zack Fair, Mid-Canon, Midgar (Compilation of FFVII), Missing Scene, Nibelheim (Compilation of FFVII), No Dialogue, Not Advent Children (Compilation of FFVII) Compliant, Not Before Crisis (Compilation of FFVII) Compliant, Not Compilation of Final Fantasy VII Compliant, Not Crisis Core (Compilation of FFVII) Compliant, Not Dirge of Cerberus (Compilation of FFVII) Compliant, Not Final Fantasy VII Remake Compliant, POV Aerith Gainsborough, POV Female Character, Past Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough, Post-Sector 7 Plate Drop (Compilation of FFVII), Pre-Relationship, Pre-Sector 7 Plate Drop (Compilation of FFVII), Relationship(s), Romance, Sad Ending, Tragic Romance, Wall Market (Compilation of FFVII)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2018-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2018-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 23:02:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,325</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28113834</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctum_c/pseuds/sanctum_c</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Aeris liked Cloud. That should have been a simple enough sentiment, but these kind of things never seemed to be entirely straight-forward.</i>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aerith Gainsborough/Cloud Strife</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Aerith Month 2018 [21]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2009521</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Simple Enough Sentiment</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the prompt 'I want to meet the real you.'</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aeris liked Cloud. That should have been a simple enough sentiment, but these kind of things never seemed to be entirely straight-forward. There were complications and some contributing factors to that liking. Plus quite when it began was not totally clear, but she suspected its origins lay somewhere during their stint in Wall Market. Certainly the previous day had been too soon; that was the shock of surprise and a helping hand when she needed it (despite her off the cuff offer of a date in lieu of payment). And it was not like her feelings had settled when Cloud insisted on sneaking away from her house in the early morning. She followed; no way was she letting the chance of something new, something exciting leave her behind. Hard to ignore there were some other feelings packed into those early decisions; both a certain amount of curiosity about Avalanche and a link to her past. What could Cloud tell her about Zack?</p><p>Little it seemed based on that moment they paused in the play park. Later that little reduced to nothing when against most odds Avalanche ran into Zack's parents. So anxious for any news, so desperate to know what became of him - like she had once been. While time had healed her wounds - in part thanks to her assumptions regarding his absence - their loss remained a raw wound and there was nothing she could tell them to help. That reveal affected Tifa in some odd way too; she refused to explain why Zack's name troubled her so and any implications related to it.</p><p>Other matters distracted Aeris in the interim; Cosmo Canyon near blasted away concerns about her ex and afterward there was Nibelheim to contend with. Aeris did her part to keep Cloud and Tifa going while old secrets came to light and the lie of the town they found still standing was clear. Rocket Town and Wutai gave her a chance to pause; new events and concerns took precedence. Nothing like a panicked flight while Shinra shot at Avalanche and another tangling with Don Corneo to change her priorities, to re-evaluate her relationships. The past was gone and there was little she could do about it now. Avalanche was her present and seemed a perfectly acceptable future.</p><p>The Gold Saucer was too good an opportunity to pass up. Bloodshed marred their previous visit to the theme park and the plan was for a fleeting visit this time. But they wound up stuck there thanks to a succession of fortunate misfortunes. Still; opportunity - she never had paid Cloud back for his bodyguard role. Going out on the date here gave her a nervous thrill; like sneaking out at night while Mom slept or feigning a non-existent illness to stay home. Unlike those occasions in her past, this sneaking around was all innocent; up to a point anyway. There was no harm in her accompanying Cloud while they explored the theme park. And yet it did still mean something for it to be just the two of them; she made no move to let anyone else know she was alone with Cloud like this - nor did she want anyone to find out.</p><p>But. Impossible to truly ignore the same nagging issue. The thing that bothered her on their second meeting, but lessened after; why did he remind her so much of Zack? Cloud had insisted - quite emphatically - he knew no one with her ex's name. He was adamant there was no SOLDIER first class named Zack. Quite what that meant was unclear; the ranks of SOLDIER were not exactly public knowledge so it was certainly possible that the two never had met. But then; was it also possible that Zack had never attained that rank either? She never had questioned anything he told her in the past - her relationship with him was more tangling with Shinra than she ever expected to do. But then how to explain Cloud's comments? Or was Cloud the one lying? Not as if she could quiz him about SOLDIER much. Best to take him at his word.</p><p>So; had Zack been trying to impress her? Maybe. And yet there were still so many little similarities between him and Cloud. Cloud's leap to his feet from the flower bed mimicked a movement Zack made when she first met him (slipped over on the ice in Sector Eight, but he was back up on his feet in moments). The way Cloud dropped what must be SOLDIER slang into conversation was familiar too; and a near inexplicable hint of a Gongagan accent in his voice – one Tifa did not share.</p><p>And maybe that had contributed to her initial interest in him. But those elements faded away. Something of a shock how much he changed in retrospect. The aloof, boastful Cloud she met unconscious in the church - the one who insisted she stayed behind for her own safety; that man seemed to evaporate over time. The hint of his accent faded and he sounded increasingly like Tifa. The SOLDIER lingo became increasingly sporadic and dried up entirely. But Cloud was still here; or perhaps he was a different version of Cloud, no longer eclipsed by the first. He smiled a lot more than he had in Wall Market. It wasn’t her influence, or anyone else’s from what she could see. He and Barret were once typically mere moments from an argument on so many occasions at the point they left Midgar. After the Gold Saucer the two were that much more at ease around the other. Easy enough to attribute that to reveals about Barret’s past and the reduction of the burden he carried, but that never seemed to ring true.</p><p>Cloud had never been outright cold to any of them, but he had certainly tried to remain distant and uncaring - at first. He kept trying to keep them at arm's length but then at some point over their travels he stopped. Not right away and not consistently for a time, but slowly he let himself simply be with them all. The Cloud she met in Sector Five would never approach her at Cosmo Canyon to assure her he and their friends were with her. Never would have forgiven Yuffie or raced Chocobos for their freedom. An external observer might attribute his actions to simple concern but- No. She had seen him distant and uncaring about the black-cloaked figure would spoke gibberish in Sector Five - and then how differently he reacted to them in Nibelheim. Cloud was in some state of flux. Which begged more questions; why and how had such a thing happened? More to the point what was undoing his act?</p><p>Tifa confided how Cloud changed over the course of a day; a cold-hearted mercenary desperate to get moving before undertaking his part of the assault on the Sector One reactor, and then later, capable of handing back what meager savings Avalanche had paid him. There was a performance there on his part - his insistence he wanted more money - but he never asked for payment again. Cloud was still with the group or perhaps they were with him - and did that distinction matter? But his professed desire for solitude, the need to get moving back to his mercenary life was long gone. He was more trusting now; the mere thought of a traitor in their midst was unfathomable to him.</p><p>So; Aeris liked Cloud. But she did not simply like the Cloud she first met, the Cloud who fell into her lap. She liked the Cloud he was becoming, the real Cloud. He was attractive enough, but to want to be with him? This new emerging Cloud, the one who would laugh and joke with his companions with increasing confidence, this was the one that interested her. And for now the gradual reveals of the true Cloud was the most fun; she was on her way to meeting the real him.</p>
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